Karl is a wonderful expert, and when I started roses, I pestered him tons! Great start, techigirl!...I especially like the view angle with the hummingbird feeder...The Artemisia is looking good and had it not been for your thread, just looking at your rose pics I would have thought they were healthy and flourishing and not what you described as "not going well" tee-hee...The foliage looks strong and healthy, at least to my eyes so cheers! you're doing Super well! It's normal for roses to get quite a few holes especially when you first start out, but gradually fantastic creatures like uh, spideys will nest at the base of your rose and catch all the aphids... Spideys love bushy, full foliage which your roses seem to have because it gives them nice shadows to creep out and grab those pesty insects. When I first tried to get bees into my garden I did tons of whoppers... Silly me had to battle with a pre-existing jungle mess of gladiolus when I planted them all! in a row. LOL! Costco was selling like 40 gladiolus' and I planted AAAAAALLL of them...And you canÂt teach a "loopy" to learn new tricks, she will just repeat the same boo-boos, lol! Well, I started planting herbs in my efforts to attract bees--by 2s (2 lavender here, 2 lavender there, 2 geraniums here, ugggggh! You get the idea)which is not! what one is supposed to do...It wasn't until I saw Boxofrox's gorgeous gardens that something started to click in that clouded brain of mine...Then I saw Kristinflower's garden too which is the perfect companion rose planting... Here is some of Boxofrox's beautiful gardens, but this time with his permission/blessings...Kristin I hope she won't be furious when I snagged her photo in a different thread, but here I'll try to have a bit more self-control and just send you her link. Boxofrox: ideas on clustering What Boxofrox did to hide a chain link fence, draping roses also complements the spiraling of the gates. More clustering concepts from Boxofrox Finally, here is Kristin_flowrÂs link: Kristin_flowrÂs bee sanctuary

Hi Jack, With the clear polycarb, I have had a problem with the rounded ("Roma") profile at distances to around 1-2 metres from it, because the rounded sections act like a lens and focus the sunlight into narrow bands that are quite a bit more intense than the sunlight itself, while the areas between the bands are a lot darker - not a good combination for sensitive plants! I still found this a problem with 30% and 50% shadecloth inside the clear polycarb (so it doesn't get creamed by falling branches), but haven't tried it with the shadecloth outside - maybe that would disperse the light sufficiently. What I did end up doing was changing to flat section ("Greca") for clear polycarb, because it doesn't concentrate the light to anywhere near the same extent as the rounded section. The difference between the two is very obvious if you hold a sample of rounded and a sample of flat next to each other in the sun in a clear sky and look at the shadows they cast. NB it isn't a problem with any of the coloured polycarbs, because the pigment diffuses the light pretty well and stops it from concentrating. I don't know if you have come across anything similar, but I thought I should pass it on. It drove me mad years ago trying to work out why I had some native Dendrobium bigibbum orchids burning behind a clear polycarb wall when they should have been, and had been, quite happy with full sun. Cheers, Paul

Congratulations Robin! That's an ambitious first canning session. My first was 4 half-pints of pickled garlic using a jelly kit my roommate had surprised me with, because she knew I was interested in canning. Your asparagus is fine and safe. You don't want it packed too tight or you could create a situation where air bubbles get trapped, which makes the heat processing less effective. Pickled asparagus or dilly beans packed too tight are not safe. Packed too loose is fine. I believe some people can the leftover brine by itself with no veg in it (remember it must come up to the proper headspace, no excess air). Then you can open the brine to use in the next batch. I make dilly beans with as many jars of long ones as I can, then do the trimmings in their own jars. The short pieces seem to stay crisper, I think. Also they are just the right size for oil & vinegar potato salad. There's no safety issue with not washing the pans, but it could cause a quality problem. 1, that smidgen of leftover pectin is getting cooked a long time as the second batch boils, which could affect texture. 2, the stuck-on stuff could burn (as you mentioned) or get overcooked and make the next batch taste less fresh. But if you're just talking about a thin coating of leftover liquid, you could just rinse it, or wipe it out with paper towels. If it's starting to jell I would wash it. So glad you had a good experience! I'm still picking out which weekend this month to pick raspberries for jam. Can't wait! Melissa

The site is bilingual for the most part, but I do speak French so it doesn't matter. Yes, is this the mystery quilt? If it is, are you ready for applique? LOL That would stop me in my tracks. Nice little website. I'd love to walk through her shop.